Ever hear of 3D Printing? I know I have, and it's something that has interested me from the beginning. The Economist recently published this article on the subject, and we'll review it in this post.
In case you don't know, 3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is almost what it sounds like - printing 3D items. These devices, which look like cubes full of robot arms, create virtually anything using specialized plastic pellets and computer blueprints. The software for these devices can be used in two ways - either produce items from scratch using built-in software, or copy existing items and produce exact replicas. These devices have existed in manufacturing for years, but have recently taken the hobbyist market by storm thanks to significant price drops. Much like computers of the 1970's and 80's, these hobbyists are creating virtually anything from their garages, bringing a whole new dimension of possibility to the common man.
As is often the case with advancements like this, not everyone is a fan. As you may have guessed, the traditional manufacturing industry is less than thrilled to have their entire industry available in such a ready format. And, thanks to the way these printers work, serious hobbyists can make things that even long-time manufacturers struggle to mass produce.
But the list of foes doesn't stop there. The bigger foe may be Intellectual Property Rights. Thanks to the advanced software used by these devices, any existing item can be easily replicated with the right hard and software. This has people in several industries worried that their hard-earned patents and painstakingly created wares could be found everywhere because of some smart-alec copycat. This may turn into a long legal episode, much like that of the record industry's witch-hunts with file sharing. The danger there is that it could limit the immense potential offered by giving everyone the ability to create almost anything they want.
3D printing is just getting started. While a nice topic for pundits and those on the cutting edge of technology, it hasn't entered the average home. That can change quickly, however, and society will have to decide how it feels on the whole about intellectual property and 3D printing.
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